The present disclosure relates to a wearable device for measuring an edema index and a method of measuring an edema index using the same.
This application comes from research [Project Management No. 1711035203(R0992-16-1021), Project Name: Development of Energy Harvesting and Wireless Power Transmission Technology for a Wearable Device], conducted as part of training business of human resources for information communications technology in the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning and the Institute for Information & Communications Technology Promotion.
Recently, with advances in medicine and the extension of average human lifespans, interest in health management is growing. Accordingly, demand for medical devices for health administration is also rising.
Body composition measuring instruments, a type of healthcare device, commonly measure body compositions using bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA). Using BIA, the impedance of the human body may be measured by considering the human organism as a combination of impedances, applying current to the human body, and measuring voltage generated by the applied current, and body compositions such as water, proteins, calcium, and fat comprising bodies may be analyzed from the measured impedance.
However, such healthcare devices may only measure simple biometric data such as body compositions, and may not be able to measure specific indices, such as an edema index and the like. The amount of total body water falls into intracelluar fluid and extracellular fluid, and the ratio of the extracellular fluid to total body water is referred to as an “edema index.” Edema is a state of imbalance of water in and out of cells, and when undernourishment due to aging, low muscular obesity, water imbalance caused by diseases, and temporary fatigue and swelling occur, an edema index may be increased.
Furthermore, healthcare devices such as those mentioned above may not be able to measure an edema index due to having too much volume and weight to function as a portable device.